Join us for the Gallery Opening of
GOD+MAN
Paintings by Carol Douglas
At the Davison Gallery, located in the Cultural
Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan College.
6-10 PM, Friday, March 28
2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, New York 14546
I spend much of my time painting en plein air. The physical environment shows the marks of our
existence, our relationship with each other, and ultimately our relationship
with God. This visible record is subtle, but once you start to notice it, you
realize it’s everywhere.
In mid-October, I returned home after a summer teaching
painting in Maine. I had two things to do: put the final touches on my
daughter’s wedding and paint the work for this show. What wasn’t on my schedule
was another cancer diagnosis.
I’m a systematic person, so I scheduled making canvases during
the four-week recovery period between my lumpectomy and hysterectomy. Immediately
before my surgery, I drenched the canvases with Naphthol Red, which is a rich
crimson color that is an excellent undertone for landscape. I do this regularly
for plein air, but the effect of all
these looming large canvases dripping blood was disconcerting.
After my surgery, I continued to leak blood. In early
February I hemorrhaged, which put my recovery back to square one. I realized
there was a connection between my current experience and my current paintings,
which were proceeding by starts and fits.
I have tried to let the canvas show through in each of these
paintings, because they were literally born in blood. If I’d proceeded along my
original course, they would have been polished and buffed to the point where no
undertone was visible. But I couldn’t do that, and I don’t regret it.
No comments:
Post a Comment